Resource Detail

Luke 18:9-14

Key Verse: 18:14b, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

1.  To whom did Jesus tell this parable (9), and why?

2. Why did people go to the temple to pray (10)? How is the Pharisee described (11a)? What does he say about himself first (11b)? What else does he say (12), and how is he going above and beyond what was required? Why would he be saying these things?

3.  In contrast, how is the tax collector described (13a)? Why do you think he is doing these things? What is he asking of God (13b), and what does he mean? What can we learn from him?

4.  What is Jesus’ shocking conclusion (14a)? What can we learn here about God? What does it mean to be “justified”? How does Jesus warn us (14b), and how can we apply this to ourselves?

What do you think about yourself? Be honest. Many of us may think we’re pretty good. We may try to do a few good things here or there. We may even try to make up for any bad things we might’ve done. Some of us might be quite proud of ourselves. Others may have been told a lot of negative things about themselves and secretly see themselves as losers. We might even be condemning ourselves. In today’s passage Jesus tells another parable on prayer. The gist of it is that to really pray, we need to know ourselves before God. Jesus concludes: “…the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” But what does it really mean to pray humbly? How can we pray like this? And why should we? May God open our hearts and speak to us through his word today.

In a series of passages in chapters 17–18 Jesus has been teaching about the inner life he wants us to have. According to his words, I need to take my own sins seriously. I need to forgive others by faith. I need to have the attitude of an unworthy servant. I need to be full of thanks for Jesus’ grace in my life. Though the world ignores him, I need to live in the hope that he’s coming again. I need to be crying out in prayer for him to come back and bring God’s justice to this dark world. Discipleship training involves all these aspects of inner spiritual formation. Now, in today’s passage, Jesus teaches another key element of our inner life.

Look at verse 9. “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” This is definitely the wrong kind of inner life. At first, it would seem that this is referring to the Pharisees. But the problem is broader than that. Some disciples of Jesus also were likely thinking like this. In fact, any time in life when we’re making sacrifices and trying hard, we can become self-righteous and start looking down on others. Here, treating others with contempt means not only despising them but also treating them like they don’t matter.

Jesus’ parable is so short and simple yet so powerful. Read verse 10. “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” This temple is the one in Jerusalem. At that time, people went there to pray two times a day, before 9:00 AM and around 3:00 PM. Both were public events. At each time, there was a sacrifice. At that time, going up to the temple to pray was the only way to find forgiveness for one’s sins.

In the parable, the two men who join in a time of public prayer at the temple are a Pharisee and a tax collector. What kind of people are they? They’re opposites. A Pharisee is a super-strict religious man who’s been memorizing Scripture and following all kinds of religious rules from his boyhood. Probably he’s at the temple often. On the other hand, a tax collector is a man greedy for money, working for the Roman occupiers, a traitor to his own people, an unscrupulous man and a social outcast. Actually, it’s surprising he even shows up at the temple at all. These two men are extreme cases, and so different. But to God, they’re both just men, ordinary men, who need him like everyone else.

How does the Pharisee pray? Read verses 11–12. “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’” What a guy! He’s standing by himself, suggesting that he’s setting himself apart. He’s confident he’s so much better than anyone else. He’s delighting in how moral he’s been, how spiritual, how sacrificial. He’s doing way more than he needs to. Jesus says he’s praying, but what’s the guy even asking of God? One translation says he’s praying “to himself.” Maybe he is talking to God, trying to earn God’s favor. But he’s also focused on the people who can hear him, trying to ensure they treat him with the respect he thinks he deserves. This Pharisee seems like any religious legalist or moralist. They’re the hypocrites people always love to expose and make fun of. We may laugh at this Pharisee and not think much more. But his self-righteousness is disturbingly common. And in fact, such self-righteousness is often non-religious.

What is non-religious self-righteousness? There’s intellectual self-righteousness, which despises the uneducated. There’s political self-righteousness, which condemns those with different ideologies. There’s lifestyle self-righteousness, which looks down on those with living habits unlike ours. There’s parenting self-righteousness, which judges those who have different parenting techniques. There’s health-and-wellness self-righteousness, which despises those who neglect diet or exercise. There’s social justice self-righteousness, which condemns those unaware and unengaged with social activism. There’s financial self-righteousness, which looks down on those who have no frugality or financial success. There’s cultural self-righteousness, which judges those ignorant of the arts or my culture. There’s environmental self-righteousness, which despises those who have no idea about sustainability. These are all examples of good things turned bad because of our pride.

We also have various levels of religious self-righteousness. It might start with our good morals or faithful church attendance. It gets more intense by gaining lots of Bible knowledge and offering many prayers and much money. It gets even more intense when we teach the Bible, invite lots of people to church, make disciples, and even send out missionaries. Again, all good things that go bad when we try to exalt ourselves through them.

But why is self-righteousness of any kind such a problem? // It’s because it hinders us from having any real relationships. In our self-righteousness we’re constantly evaluating and criticizing others instead of understanding them. It blinds us to our true selves. Ultimately, our self-righteousness leaves us with a superficial relationship with God. The Bible says the main point of all God’s laws is to truly love God and truly love our neighbor. But in this Pharisee’s self-righteous prayer, bragging about his “accomplishments,” we detect no love at all, not for God or for anyone but himself. When we’re self-righteous like a Pharisee, we’re trying to exalt ourselves. Does God want us to go to his temple, his church, to exalt ourselves? Does God want us to elevate ourselves above those who are sinning and making mistakes, from all those who are lost? Does God want us to be conceited and to gloat over others’ failures? No, God wants us to glorify him by sharing his love with the real-life sinners right there with us.

It’s notable that in Luke’s Gospel the word “friend” is repeated 15 times, far more than any other New Testament book. Jesus himself is called a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (7:34b). Jesus also tells his disciples to “make friends” (16:9). But if we observe carefully, a self-righteous person finds it nearly impossible to have any genuine friends. We all should engage in some sober self-reflection here. Are we hiding in some self-righteous huddle? Are we growing in a close friendship with even one person?

When we’re self-righteous, we can’t get close to God, either. Why not? It’s because in our self-righteousness we can’t see who we really are. We’re always too busy putting on a show and critiquing others. Only when we come into God’s presence and see the reality of who he is can we begin to see our true selves. The prophet Isaiah was lamenting in many ways about the corruption of his people. But then he saw a vision of the holy God in his temple. That’s when he realized how depraved and sinful he himself was. So he cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost…” It was so disturbing. But through this encounter he could receive God’s grace and begin to hear the voice of the LORD and his calling (Isa.6:1–8). Through tasting this grace, Isaiah could see prophetic visions of the beauty and glory of the Lord. When we realize how sinful we are and yet how much grace and love God has for us in Jesus, that’s when we truly come to know God and actually start loving him.

Jesus then describes the tax collector’s prayer. Read verse 13. “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” His prayer is so short! He doesn’t even seem to know how to pray. Jesus describes more of what the man is doing than what he’s praying. He’s standing far off, probably in the back of the temple, where nobody can see him. The guy won’t even lift his eyes to heaven, no doubt because he feels too unworthy. He beats his breast, not to get attention but as the expression of real grief over his sin. And he says simply, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” He knows he’s sinned against both God and other human beings (15:18,21). He knows he deserves God’s punishment. But he showed up in person, begging for mercy. He’s not sitting at home in self-condemnation. Just condemning ourselves is actually pride. Coming to God as a sinner and asking for his mercy is the essence of what Jesus means when he says to humble ourselves.

It’s good to think about this word “merciful.” It’s not the usual Greek word for mercy, which is used often in the New Testament. This Greek word is much more rare. It literally means “make propitiation” or “atone for my sins.”^[1] Sometimes, mercy is just to let a person go free. There’s no justice in that. But in this mercy, this atonement, God’s justice is satisfied and his wrath is turned away. This is what the tax collector is asking for. It points to what Jesus is going to do for all sinners like him. He’s going to offer his own body and pour out his own blood to bring us God’s mercy, the forgiveness of our sins (22:19–20). In this way, we no longer need to go to a temple; we can go straight to Jesus himself for this mercy.^[2]

Jesus says in verse 14a, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” According to Jesus, the tax collector is an example for us all of saving faith. He’s deeply aware of his own sin, and sincerely repentant. He’s not trying to earn God’s favor by his prayer. In his lifetime he’s only done sinful things. He has nothing to brag about. He can approach God only by faith and beg him to make atonement for his sins. And this is what the man really needs.

In fact, it’s the only way anyone can receive God’s grace and become right with God. Whether we think we’ve lived a good life or a bad life, the gospel is the same for everyone. All we can do is repent of our sins, turn to God and believe in Jesus, and when we do, God forgives all our sins (Acts 2:38; 5:31). No other effort, restitution or good deed will make us any more worthy of God’s mercy. We can never trust in ourselves in any way that we are righteous (9); we need to put all our trust in Jesus. Apostle Paul writes: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom.3:23–25a).^[3] Jesus who shed his blood for us is our only righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1Cor.1:30). Humbly receiving his grace of forgiveness of sins is what it truly means to be “exalted.”

Read verse 14b. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” This is the faith we need at the start of our Christian life, and it’s the same faith we need all the way to the end. Even after a lifetime of serving God, we don’t build up a spiritual resume that makes us worthy of God’s mercy. At every life stage, we can only come to God humbly as a sinner like this tax collector and ask his mercy through the atoning grace of Jesus.

Read verse 14b again. May God help us come into his holy presence to find who we really are. May God grant us the humble repentance of the tax collector and his faith to ask for God’s saving grace in Jesus. And may God fill us with real love for him and for others, and bless us with beautiful friendships in Christ.

^[1] It’s the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) to describe the mercy seat or “atonement cover” on top of the ark of the covenant (Ex.25:17–22; 26:34; 30:6; 31:7; 35:12; 37:6–9; 39:35; 40:20; Lev.16:2,13–15; Num.7:89; see also Heb.2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).

^[2] John 2:19–21; Heb.9:11–12; 10:19–20

^[3] This word “propitiation” is the same Greek root word as the word “be merciful” the tax collector used in his prayer.